Under the healthcare bill passed by the U.S. House, insurance policies largely geared to those without coverage would be offered on an exchange, or insurance marketplace, to help consumers purchase health plans, many using newly created federal subsidies. Legislation before the U.S. Senate would have exchanges regulated at the state level with insurance directors having a say in what policies are sold while monitoring health plan performance and quality, the Chicago Tribune reports. Analysts say proposed legislation should make the products offered more standardized, while giving regulators more say.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and an assortment of national business groups opposed to President Obama's healthcare reform effort are collecting money to finance an economic study that could be used to portray the legislation as a job killer and threat to the nation's economy, reports the Washington Post. An e-mail written by the Chamber's senior health policy manager proposes spending $50,000 to hire a "respected economist" to study the impact of healthcare legislation would have on jobs and the economy.
Doctors who specialize in treating the elderly are calling on the nation's medical schools to require all students to demonstrate competence in treating senior citizens. With the first of the 78 million baby boomers nearing retirement age, the American Geriatrics Society is proposing that elder care be added to the list of six core areas that have long been the focus of medical school training. While many schools are integrating more geriatrics into courses, the training varies greatly and less than 1% of the faculty responsible for teaching future doctors are experts in geriatrics, according to a 2008 report from the Institute of Medicine.
Americans are worried about the fine print in the healthcare overhaul, according to an Associated Press poll. The poll found that 43% of Americans oppose the healthcare plans being discussed in Congress, while 41% are in support. An additional 15 percent remain neutral or undecided. The survey was conducted by Stanford University with the nonprofit Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Baltimore based insurer Bravo Health Inc., is organizing a clinic that Bravo representatives say will provide a less-expensive alternative for thousands of elderly, and often poor, patients in North Philadelphia. What makes the clinic unusual is that it is entirely funded and administered by an insurance company. Instead of working for medical practices or hospitals, every doctor, nurse, technician, and clerk at the two-story clinic will be a Bravo employee. And every one of the patients will have to have Bravo insurance, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.
Under the Connecitcut's "adverse event" reporting law, hospitals are required to inform the state Department of Public Health when patients suffer certain serious unintended harm. The legislation was intended to compel hospitals to improve care and help patients assess the quality of the state's medical facilities. But since that law was revised five years ago, thousands of incidents that injured or killed patients have been hidden from the public by hospitals and the state health department, the Hartford Courant reports.